Baltimore police use smoke bombs, pepper pellets on protesters

Police in Baltimore fired smoke bombs and pepper pellets at hundreds of protesters who defied a night-time curfew that took effect across the city late Tuesday, police and US media said, AFP reports.

The curfew, which went into effect at 10:00 pm (0200 GMT Wednesday), was imposed for a week in response to riots that erupted in the US city on Monday after the funeral of a black man who died of injuries suffered while in police custody.

"Officers are now deploying pepper balls at the aggressive crowd at North Ave/Pennsylvania Ave," police tweeted, while CNN and other television news stations said that officers also used smoke bombs in a bid to enforce the curfew.

"The curfew violators are refusing to follow lawful orders by officers to leave the area," police said on Twitter, adding that "criminals" had started a fire outside a city library.

Armored vehicles were moving into the area of the standoff between police and protesters, television images showed.